This month we have been preaching on Love Invests. It’s about making provision for the future so that others may live. Your money is your life. When you give financially you are giving part of your life. When someone loses faith and starts to move away from church, the very first thing that stops is their giving.

In our church 53 % of our congregation are tithers. That is, they give 10% or more of their finance to God through the church. In the Late Service only 23% of the congregation are tithers. Some more revelation needed there.

The greatest investment of all – you own life.

Matt 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [[p]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25 For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed [q]life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] [r]life [in the kingdom of God]? (AMP)

Matt 16:24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?(MESS)

The Jim Elliott Story

“Jim” Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. The Elliot’s parents encouraged their children to be adventurous, and encouraged them to “live for Christ”.[4] While at Camp Wycliffe, The missionaries told him of the Huaorani – also called the “Auca”, the Quichua word for “savage” – a group of Ecuadorian indigenous people considered violent and dangerous to outsiders. Elliot remained unsure about whether to go to Ecuador or India until July. His parents and friends wondered if he might instead be more effective in youth ministry in the United States, but considering the home church “well-fed”, he felt that international missions should take precedence.[12]

Elliot and Fleming arrived in Ecuador on February 21, 1952, with the purpose of evangelizing Ecuador’s Quechua Indians. They first stayed in Quito, and then moved to the jungle. They took up residence at the Shandiamission station. On October 8, 1953, he married fellow Wheaton alumna and missionary Elisabeth Howard. Their only child, Valerie, was born February 27, 1955. While working with Quechua Indians, Elliot began preparing to reach the Huaorani.

Elliot and four other missionaries – Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint – made contact from their airplane with the Huaorani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Indian village, along the Curaray River. There they were approached one time by a small group of Huaorani and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called “George” (his real name was Naenkiwi). Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Huaorani, without knowing that Naenkiwi had lied to the others about the missionaries’ intentions.[1] Their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about 10 Huaorani warriors, who killed Elliot and his four companions on January 8, 1956. Elliot’s body was found downstream, along with those of the other men, except that of Ed McCully which was found even farther downstream.

His journal entry for October 28, 1949, expresses his belief that work dedicated to Jesus was more important than his life (see Luke 9:24 in the Bible). “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” This is the quote that is most often attributed to Elliot.

You can Go to church, you can pray to Jesus and ask forgiveness of your sins, but Jesus is looking for true disciples who will lay down their life for Him. Some in death, others in life long service. What will it be for you?

This month our theme is LOVE INVESTS. The scriptures teach us the value of considering the future generations: Prov 13:22 A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (NIV)Love thinks not only about the present needs but lays up in store for the future so that those following may have their needs met. Love makes provision for the future so that those you love, who come after you, will be blessed with all that God can provide for them. Love shows wisdom in not only leaving a financial blessing but providing it in a way that is most beneficial to the receivers; such as an inheritance kept until you are 18.

As Christians we are concerned not only about the material provision for future generations but about the spiritual provision also. Love sees far into the future and looks longingly for the next generation to know Jesus Christ and sees the families, cities and nations turning to God. Love invests financially for kingdom purpose into the future. That is why in this church we gather together, then we dream a dream of what the future may hold and sow a seed of finance to make the future better for others. We call this Kingdom Advance.

What you gave last year made a difference!

YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS

Last Friday night we had 82 youth at the Foundation including a small number from two other churches. Right now we have 12 trained youth leaders with 6 UC’s in church and homes and 6 more operating in the schools themselves.

We have 7 Young Adults leaders with Red Frogs ministry taking place in four locations at Latrobe Uni and NMIT. There are 3 UC’s operating with Young Adults.

Yesterday we had training for the state youth leadership. Of the 15 or so there 11 of them were from this church.

These leaders are the future church planters and leaders of our movement into the next three decades.

BECAUSE YOU GAVE LAST YEAR THERE ARE MORE AND BETTER EQUIPPED YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS LEADERS TO TAKE OUR MOVEMENT FORWARD

DESTINY RESCUE

On the video message last night Jenni Kirwan shared about an amazing young woman who was terribly abused in a brothel for a long period. She was angry and much damaged, but Jesus changed her life. She was transformed. Later she trained and became a hairdresser and has moved out to own her own business. Saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

BECAUSE YOU GAVE LAST YEAR MORE GIRLS LIKE THIS ONE HAVE BEEN RESCUED AND THEIR LIVES TURNED AROUND FOR GOD.

COMMUNITY KITCHEN

Every week on a Tuesday, this church feeds about 100 people at the Community Kitchen. Not just food but also love is provided to a multitude of people who are lost and lonely, the disabled, the elderly, the carers, those suffering with mental illness and the poor. Together we are doing what Jesus asked us to do when He said, in Luke 14:12-14 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbours. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” (NLT)

BECAUSE YOU GAVE LAST YEAR WE WERE ABLE TO FEED THESE PRECIOUS PEOPLE AND PROVIDE THEM WITH LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE.

The local City Council CEO spoke glowingly about our local church to people who are not part of this church because we are making an impact in our community.

COMMUNITY IMPACT EVENTS – FAMILY VIOLENCE

In the last 12 months this local church has run a White Ribbon Dinner and participated in community events to assist in the prevention of Family Violence. Changing the culture of a large community is a long range and difficult task, but this church is firmly located in the being part of the answer side of the issue.

BECAUSE YOU GAVE MORE PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF THE FAMILY VIOLENCE ISSUE AND WE ARE CLOSER TO SEEING A REDUCTION IN FAMILY VIOLENCE.

REFURBISH MEDIA, SOUND AND STAGE.

Now that we have occupied this building for four and a half years, it’s important to upgrade those resources that wear out, grow old and stop working. It’ also important to stay relevant with the best sound and vision equipment so that we can communicate more effectively with the people coming to our church.

BECAUSE YOU GAVE LAST YEAR WE WERE ABLE TO UPGRADE OUR COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR WIDE SCREEN AND INCREASE OUR SCREEN SIZE, ADD NEW MICROPHONES AND PAINT SOME AREAS OF THE CHURCH AND PURCHASE MORE FURNITURE.

Over the last twelve months, the givers made a difference.

I bought a bible and changed a nation

Until the last half of the Twentieth Century, Korea was one of the most resistant nations in the world to the message of the gospel. A deeply Buddhist and shamanistic culture, Korea was known to the world as the “Hermit Kingdom.” The first Christian mission to Korea came when Catholic missionaries arrived in 1784, but these Catholic missionaries met mostly resistance in the form of indifference, persecution and even martyrdom. Anti-Catholic persecution climaxed in the infamous 1866 massacre when 10,000 bishops, priests and Korean converts were martyred for their faith. (1)

A century after the Catholics arrived the first Protestant missionaries landed at Inchon near the city of Seoul. In 1865, an abortive landing had been made by the Welsh missionary Robert Thomaswho was beaten to death by anti-foreign Koreans but not before he had thrown a bundle of Bibles to the watching crowds. Although most of the Bibles were burned, a few were saved and were used to convert to Christ the very man who had murdered Thomas. Later the way had been prepared during the 1870’s when John Ross, succeeded in translating the New Testament into the Korean language. Coming from America in 1884 were Horace Underwood, a Presbyterian, and Henry Appenzeller, a Methodist. Both men were from the Student volunteer movement and came together on the same ship. Since the Presbyterians sent more missionaries to Korea than the Methodists, Presbyterianism soon became the largest Christian movement in the country, with the Methodists and Catholics growing more slowly. Progress was difficult for all Christian churches for the first century. By 1900, Korean Christians numbered only .4% of the population. In many ways, Korea was like Japan which still has a similar tiny proportion of Christians.

By the end of the century, it was clear that South Korea was well on its way towards becoming a Christian nation. By 2012 the percentage of Christians in the population of the nation stood at 47.7%. From small beginnings in the early years of the century, the Korean pentecostals added their spiritual fervor and organizational skills to the massive growth of the church in the nation. By 1995, the Pentecostals had grown to be the third largest church in South Korea with almost 2,000,000 members. The record of Korean church growth was unparalleled in any other part of the globe. The growth from a tiny persecuted minority to an almost certain majority of the population is a quantum leap that can only be explained in spiritual and supernatural terms. The pentecostals and charismatics, with their gifts and zeal have led the way in Korea as they have in many other parts of the world.

The bible that missionary Robert Thomas brought to Korea was paid for by church people in Ireland. That bible was a seed that started a change that impacted a whole nation. What you do for God in giving, praying and going to the mission field is a seed that will have multiplied effective results over the years to come.

In last year’s giving, we set a goal to raise $60,000 and received pledges for approximately $70,000. Of this amount $45,000 has been received. The reasons for this shortfall are not clear, but what is more important moving forward is that all last year’s giving is completed. If you have not completed your pledge, that amount is forgiven. A new season of giving is now about to begin. This year let’s set a more achievable goal and seek to raise $40,000 for the year to be divided evenly over the four projects.

This giving represents a little over 10% of our total income and all of this will go outside our own local church to the work of God further afield. The work of Youth Young Adults and Community Kitchen will all continue through 2015, but will be funded out of our tithes and offerings income.

Here’s how to give.

This giving is over and above your normal tithes and offerings. That finance provides for the church to function with wages, rent, electricity, catering, travel, and many other things. This giving is a faith pledge. It’s partnering with God to believe that He will show you an amount to give. You will be in faith that God will provide for you over and above your normal income in unexpected ways. It could a pay rise or a gift you receive, starting a small business or any number of unusual circumstances that will enable you to give what you pledged and at the end of the year you are better off than when you started.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. In world wide terms where would Australians rank in the world’s richest to poorest people groups?

2. Does your eternal perspective change the way you value money and people?

3. How does it feel to give and make a difference with your giving?

4. Is it about how much you give or is it about listening to God and obeying what He has asked you to do ?

This month our theme is LOVE INVESTS. The scriptures teach us the value of considering the future generations: Prov 13:22 A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (NIV) Love thinks not only about the present needs but lays up in store for the future so that those following may have their needs met. Love makes provision for the future so that those you love, who come after you, will be blessed with all that God can provide for them. Love shows wisdom in not only leaving a financial blessing but providing it in a way that is most beneficial to the receivers; such as an inheritance kept until you are 18.

As Christians we are concerned not only about the material provision for future generations but about the spiritual provision also. Love sees far into the future and looks longingly for the next generation to know Jesus Christ and sees the families, cities and nations turning to God. Love invests financially for kingdom purpose into the future. That is why in this church we gather together, then we dream a dream of what the future may hold and sow a seed of finance to make the future better for others. We call this Kingdom Advance.

This year our Kingdom Advance dinner will take place on October 24th at 7pm. You have received an invitation to that dinner today. Our focus of giving this year will be more in terms of missions giving; that means giving to evangelistic work in places outside our own local area. Our goal this coming year will be to support Destiny Rescue, Pastor Fakhry Hanna in Egypt, The INC South Pacific islands and our Church planting in Victoria.

Today I want to share with you the amazing stories of how people invested their lives in the mission field so that others future could be different.

Our first missionary is William Carey a missionary to India. Born in 1761, William Carey became a missionary to India arriving in 1793. It was extremely hard to get to India in that time because the church in England could not believe that Indian people could be saved. Carey had to work hard to convince the leadership of the church in England that Christians were called to preach the gospel in every nation and that meant going there. [a]

During the first year in Calcutta, the missionaries sought means to support themselves and a place to establish their mission. They also began to learn the Bengali language to communicate with others. At Midnapore during the first six years Carey managed an indigo plant, he completed the first revision of his Bengali New Testament and began formulating the principles upon which his missionary community would be formed, including communal living, financial self-reliance, and the training of indigenous ministers. His son Peter died of dysentery, which, along with other causes of stress, resulted in Dorothy suffering a nervous breakdown from which she never recovered. Due to her debilitating mental breakdown, she had long since ceased to be an able member of the mission, and her condition was an additional burden to it. John Marshman wrote how Carey worked away on his studies and translations, “…while an insane wife, frequently wrought up to a state of most distressing excitement, was in the next room…”. She died in 1807.

After learning the language Carey began preaching gospel messages to the Indian people five nights a week. It was years until the first convert was made. Carey faced setback after setback with his workplace being swept away in flood waters more than once. An Indian Christian who helped Carey translate the bible into Sanskrit after 7 years serving with Carey backslid. On 11 March 1812, a fire in the print shop caused £10,000 in damages and lost work. Amongst the losses were many irreplaceable manuscripts, including much of Carey’s translation of Sanskrit literature and a polyglot dictionary of Sanskrit and related languages, which would have been a seminal philological work had it been completed. However, the press itself and the punches were saved, and the mission was able to continue printing in six months. In Carey’s lifetime, the mission printed and distributed the Bible in whole or part in 44 languages and dialects.

After the loss of his wife and young son and backsliding of his only Indian Christian helper, one might expect that Carey could have packed up and gone home to recuperate. However a letter he penned to supporters at home during those darkest hours stated: “Though my disappointments may yet be 1000 times greater; yet I have this hope – the goodness and the faithfulness of God.” What drives a man to so surrender his life for others in the face of monumental difficulties – LOVE INVESTS. The outcome of Carey’s life was nothing short of amazing. He is known as the father of modern missions. Carey’s chief work of life was to make translation of the Scriptures and it was his joy before the close of life to see “more than 213,000 volumes of the Divine Word, in forty different languages, issue from the Serampore press.” But this was but a part of his life work.

Our next missionary was an Australian named Stanley Dale

Stanley Dale was a Australian that first visited New Guinea [b] while in the army during WWII. It was then that he first saw the high mountain ranges of the interior and set his mind that someday he would return to bring the message of God’s love to the people who lived in those remote areas. After the war he completed his Bible education, got married and began his training for his goal of reaching the unknown tribes in the highlands. He was refused by a number of missionary societies but finally was accepted to go to New Guinea. From 1947 to 1960 he worked with tribes in the lowlands. Finally in 1961 he & Bruno Leeuw made their trek into the Heluk Valley and made contact with the Yali tribe.

Stan Dale believed that even the most violent Yali cannibal had a soul worth saving because it was made in the image of God.

As the gospel was blossoming in the upper end of the valley, those in the lower end of the valley were still in darkness. Two of the young Yali Christians, Kekwara & Bengwok, went down the valley and were attacked while preaching. Neither returned. At the news of their deaths, Stan Dale went to the villages himself, and there suffered 5 arrow wounds. He was helped back to camp, then flown a mission hospital. It would be a week before they knew that Stan would survive the injuries. Two months later,

Stan Dale returned to his work among the Yali.

He was determined that the work of God must continue.

He strengthened the church in the upper Heluk valley and the new believers spread the gospel east into the next valley where it was warmly received. This angered the shamans in the lower valley and to the west and they made threats against Stan Dale should he enter their area again. After two years the burden for the salvation people in the lower valley prompted Stan Dale to try once again to reach them. On Wednesday, September 18, 1968, Stan Dale, Phil Masters and four tribal helpers began their trek into the Seng Valley. They were greeted by armed warriors when they reached the first village. The immediate crises was avoided and the next day they decided to return, but already the neighboring villages had been told and their warriors had agreed that these bearers of a strange religion would have to be killed.

The warriors were following them. Stan was at the rear. He stopped and faced them. Stan called to his Yali friend, Yemu, “Leave me,” and he raised his staff, not in anger, but as a barrier to the advancing tide of warriors. A priest of Kembu (the demonic religion) named Bereway slipped around behind Stan and at point blank range shot an arrow in under his upraised right arm. Another priest, Bunu, shot a bamboo bladed shaft into Stan’s back, just below his right shoulder.

Yemu was crying now and shouting at them to stop. As the arrows entered Stan’s flesh, he pulled them out, one by one, broke them and cast them away. Dozens of arrows were coming at him from all directions. He kept pulling them out, breaking them and dropping them at his feet until he could not keep ahead of them. Nalimo, the village chief, reached the scene after some 30 arrows had found their mark in Stan’s body.

“How can he stand there so long?”Nalimo gasped.“Why doesn’t he fall? Any one of us would have fallen long ago!”A different kind of shaft
pierced Nalimo’s own flesh – fear! “Perhaps he is immortal!”Nalimo’s normally impassive face melted with sudden emotion. Because of that emotion, Nalimo said latter, he did not shoot an arrow into Stan’s body. Stan faced his enemies, steady and unwavering except for the jolt of each new strike. Yemu ran to where Phil stood alone. Together they watched in anguish at Stan’s agony. As some 50 or more warriors detached from the main force and came toward them, Phil pushed Yemu behind him and gestured speechlessly, run! Phil seemed hardly to notice the warriors encircling him. His eyes were fixed upon Stan.

Fifty arrows – sixty! Red ribbons of blood trailed from the many wounds, but still Stan stood his ground. Nalimo saw that he was not alone in his fear. The attack had begun with hilarity, but now the warriors shot their arrows with desperation bordering on panic because Stan refused to fall. “Perhaps Kusaho was right!”Perhaps they were committing a monstrous crime against the supernatural world instead of defending it, as they intended. “Fall!: they screamed at Stan. “Die!”It was almost a plea – please die!

Yemu did not hear Phil say anything to the warriors as they aimed their arrows at him. Phil made no attempt to flee or struggle. He had faced danger many times but never certain death. But Stan had shown him how to face it, if he needed an example. That example could hardly have been followed with greater courage. One again, it was Bereway who shot the first arrow. And it took almost as many arrows to down Phil as it had Stan. Yemu and the 3 other helpers stayed only until they knew that Phil could not survive, then they turned and ran for their lives. One thought burned in Yemu’s mind, “if they kill us too, there’ll be no one left to tell their widows what happened, or where they fell.”Yemu did make it back safely to tell what happened.

Only a year later these same people were reached with the gospel of Christ by missionaries that replaced Stan Dale and Phil Masters.

What enabled men like Stan Dale, Phil Masters and the two Yali Christians,

Kekwara & Bengwok, to risk and lose their lives in trying to take the gospel to a violent and hostile people? How were and are so many others able to spend their lives in similar tasks, forsaking the comforts of their homes to go live in foreign places with foreign people in a foreign culture?

LOVE INVESTS – Making a difference to the future of people who one day will come to know Christ.

One of the last communications received by the home office from Stanley Dale carried this significant comment—“I have a burden for these places where the way is hard. Please continue to pray for the people of the Holuk that they may break free from their fetishes and declare themselves wholly on the Lord’s side. Please continue to remember us in prayer, for we still carry some heavy burdens that are not burdens of work.”[c]

Stanley Dale had long ago determined to spread the gospel to unreached peoples, even at the expense of his own life. Because of their deep love for Jesus, Stan and Phil had a passionate desire to make Him known to all people—especially those Yali living in spiritual darkness in the Seng Valley.[d]

In the next few weeks I will be sharing how the Lord has used me to reach people in China, the Ukraine and the Pacific over the last 30 years. We have missionaries right here in this church. I want to introduce one of them to you today It’s Betsey Rasia who has a passion for her high school.

I hope that we as a local church continue to develop a deep passion for lost people the world over and that we are prepared to sacrifice our pleasures and comforts so that others may live. I hope you can come to the dinner on the 24th October and join Chris and me in pledging finances to INVEST in the lives of others.

Last year we saw about $70,000 pledged into Kingdom Advance. So far about $38,000 has been received. More finance may come through this month until the dinner when we begin a new year of fund raising. This shortfall has led me to make a much smaller goal for the coming year. I am setting a target of $40,000 which will represent about 10% of our total church income and distribute it equally among four missions projects. Destiny Rescue, Egypt, Solomon Islands and Church planting in Victoria.

If you have not completed your pledge by the time of the dinner please consider the pledge forgiven and begin anew with faith and with a more realistic pledge for the coming year. The finance we give to Kingdom Advance is not our tithe which God says comes into the storehouse to make sure there is provision in this house. Kingdom Advance giving is an offering over and above your tithe for the work of missions. Will you join with me giving so that others may live? Will you believe and trust God to provide abundantly for you over and above your normal income to allow you to give?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Perhaps not everyone is called ti new Guinea or India, but where are you called to?

2. The sacrifices made by these heroic missionaries inspire us, what does it make you feel?

3. Are there sacrifices you can make so that others may live?

4. Is the life of Stanley Dales given only to reach the tribes of New Guinea or was it given in order that other Christians may be inspired to give their all for Christ?